


Strange Stories From A Johto Gym

by Rosencrantz



Series: Ghost Stories - Fandom [8]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Ghost Stories, Horror Anthology, It's a bunch of spooky stories one after the other, Non-graphic death, Pokedex Entries, ToT: Monster Mash, peril to children and small pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:05:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12205335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz/pseuds/Rosencrantz
Summary: Four legends and two prose stories make up this miniature anthology of Pokemon horror stories.Note: 'The Tale of Old Shifty' chapter was updated 2018/11/15.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DoreyG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/gifts).



> Thank you to Phosfate for her beta work!

It was a dark and stormy night outside the Ecruteak Gym. Inside, a trainer was shivering and wet. They were safe from the storm now, but the gym was dark and uninviting. The trainer was cold, and not just from the rain.

Lightning struck outside, lighting up the room. The trainer saw bamboo floors and statues.

They stepped further inside...

Suddenly the room lit up, candles along every wall. But the fire was blue and cold. Litwick giggled from their alcoves. And at the end of the gym was a man in a dark outfit and purple scarf.

"Hello, trainer," he said. "Before you challenge me, let me share some stories with you."

A Gengar appeared, smiling far too wide, beside the trainer. It held a cup of steaming tea.

The trainer sat down to listen, warming their hands on the teacup. 

"First," said Morty, "have you ever wondered why the Gorebyss turn pink in the springtime...?"


	2. Gorebyss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every spring they come.

They go missing in the spring. Visitors to our island. Men, women, children. Old and young. 

Every spring our island turns beautiful. Trees blossom, flowers bloom, and the gorebyss turn bright pink. 

Tourists love to come see the gorebyss, they're the island's main attraction.

We tell them not to swim with them, that they should be left alone, in peace.

Tourists sneak into the water anyway. 

The gorebyss become bright pink and we say we never saw those tourists when their family come to ask. We learned long ago the truth does no good.

Every spring the gorebyss turn bright pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relevant Pokedex entries:
> 
> **Emerald** : _A Gorebyss siphons the body fluids of prey through its thin, tubular mouth. Its light pink body color turns vivid when it finishes feeding._
> 
> **Black/White** : _It lives at the bottom of the sea. In the springtime, its pink body turns more vivid for some reason._


	3. Houndoom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Houndoom burns never heal.

They say if you go to the burnt-out building at the edge of the forest you'll see something scary.

First, don't go if you can hear barking. Never go if you can hear barking. 

Once you are there, do not touch what remains of the burnt walls. They'll still burn you.

If you look just right at a certain part of the floor you can see a shadow of a man. If you look at what's left of the walls you can see more shadows of the dead.

If you wait until dawn you'll hear howling. You should leave immediately.

If you don't leave, the howls will freeze you. And if you're frozen the houndoom will come.

It's a big houndoom with horns that point back.

It doesn't like people. You shouldn't have stayed.

That's where an entire group of Team Rocket died after kidnapping a group of houndour with too much force, leaving a dead one behind.

That's what the surviving Rockets told the doctors when they came to be treated for the houndoom's burns. Burns that will never, ever heal. 

The big houndoom doesn't like it if it finds humans in the hideout.

But it's a really scary thing to see, like they said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [From Hell's Heart I Stab At Thee](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12205335/chapters/27718266), chapter 6, explains what went down here so long ago.
> 
>  
> 
> Houndour: 
> 
> **X** : _Around dawn, its ominous howl echoes through the area to announce that this is its territory._
> 
> Houndoom:
> 
>  **Gold** : _If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away._
> 
>  **Crystal** : _The pungent-smelling flame that shoots from its mouth results from toxins burning in its body._
> 
>  **X** : _Long ago, people imagined its eerie howls to be the call of the grim reaper._


	4. Drifloon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei was tired.

There was once a little girl named Kei. 

She was so happy when she got her first Pokemon and got to finally go on her pokemon journey. But it wasn't as easy as she thought. In fact by the time she and her pokemon Kipper got to Petalburg Woods she was so tired. She had been battling pokemon since she entered the woods, it felt like. Her mudkip had stopped for a nap a while ago.

She was so tired. She leaned heavily against a stump to rest and try to remember the way out.

It was a nice stump. She had never thought of stumps as comfortable before but this one could put her futon at home to shame with how nice it felt at her back. She was just leaning her head against it when she saw the balloon bobbing to her.

It was light purple and was tied with a cute bow that left two strings with hearts dangling from the ends. It bobbed and floated closer and closer to her.

Kei loved balloons, and thought to herself that she was feeling much more energetic now so she got up to chase it. She caught it. To her surprise the string wrapped around her wrist and the balloon started floating up, lifting her from the ground.

For it is far easier for a lazy drifloon to capture the spirits of dead children before they become phantumps than it is for them to steal away a living child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drifloon:
> 
> **Heart Gold** : _It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing._
> 
> **Black 2** : _These Pokémon are called the "Signpost for Wandering Spirits." Children holding them sometimes vanish._
> 
> Phantump:
> 
> **Alpha Sapphire** : _According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest._


	5. Ditto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You might see this one night.

They say on dark rainy nights you might see a young girl standing by the side of the road. She'll have her thumb out to hitch a ride. If you give her a ride, in your vehicle or on your pokemon, she won't say a word. She'll just point to where she wants to go.

And when you get to the small house she directs you to she'll be gone. But you go up to the door anyway to ask the old lady who answers the door if they know who the girl is.

And they will tell you it's their dead daughter's dtto and could you please catch it again?


	6. From Hell's Heart I Stab At Thee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cruelty does not go unpunished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Houndoom chapter.

"Aim better, you idiots! We only need one!" 

A pack of houndour raced around the clearing trying to find escape in the early dawn light. Ekans and rattatas and grimers hissed, snapped, and groaned at them whichever way they turned. The little dog pokemon barked to each other, trying to form a strategy while dodging Team Rocket's nets.

"Enough of this!" shouted the team Rocket Leader. He threw out a pokeball. "Arbok! Poison fang!" 

The smallest houndour wasn't fast enough to avoid the strike of the enormous arbok, and fell to the ground with a small cut-off yip.

The change was immediate. As one, the houndour raced to aid their fallen comrade.

"Now!" shouted the Team Rocket leader. Nets flew and every houndour was caught.

The leader did not stop to heal the poisoned houndour, leaving it behind. 

"That one is too small to bother with and I don't want to spare the antidote," he said with a shrug. "And we've got enough anyway. C'mon, boys and girls. Time to train our new soldiers."

The houndour in the nets howled woefully as they were carried off from their little comrade, who shivered and curled into a ball.

It was a houndoom who found the ill-fated houndour that night. The body was cold, the infernal fire burnt out.

The houndoom dug a hole for the little creature and nudged it inside, then covered it. Then it cast the air for a scent and began to follow Team Rocket's path.

That night at the headquarters at the edge of the forest in an abandoned house, Team Rocket was in their cups, laughing about their big catch. Already they were training the houndour to be vicious little fighters, with cruel games and beatings from the Rockets' more powerful pokemon.

At the card table the leader sipped his sake and played another card. "Noisy, aren't they? We'll beat the barking out of them."

One of his underlings snorted. "Yeah, tomorrow boss--"

Often, in this sort of story, this is the moment when the door blows in and slams against the wall, terrifying everyone within. But in this story, the bottom of the door began to glow and smoke. The door burned, flame eating it from bottom to top until the doorframe was empty apart from whirling sparks and ash.

Then the houndoom walked in.

The Rockets stared, frozen.

"Oh, now **this** one is mine," said the leader, shaking off his surprise first. He sent out his arbok while his men ran to the other side of the room. "Weird horns you got there, doggy." 

The houndoom leaned down its head. It was true, unlike most houndoom which have curved horns, this one's were swept back with vicious sharp points. A pack leader.

No good for charging, but good for hooking.

"Arbok! Wrap!" yelled the leader.

The houndoom dodged, leaping over top the arbok and landing before the team leader with a thunderous bang on all four paws. Then it demonstrated how to hook with its horns. 

The gang tried to run. The air rang with howls that froze them in their steps. The houndoom's pack had arrived.

All that was left after that was the fire. 

The houndour left with the houndoom.

As for the surviving Rockets, did you know that a burn from a houndoom's fire never heals? It hurts until the day you die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Houndour:
> 
>  **Alpha Sapphire** : _Houndour hunt as a coordinated pack. They communicate with each other using a variety of cries to corner their prey. This Pokémon's remarkable teamwork is unparalleled._
> 
> Houndoom:
> 
>  **Emerald** : _In a Houndoom pack, the one with its horns raked sharply back serves a leadership role. They choose their leader by fighting among themselves._
> 
>  **Fire Red** : _Upon hearing its eerie howls, other Pokémon get the shivers and head straight back to their nests._


	7. The Tale Of Old Shifty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The legend of Old Shifty's been told throughout Kanto for generations.
> 
> Story updated 2018/11/15.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Ditto chapter.

"We're here after Old Shifty!" said the bearded man, slamming his hand down on the bar. "Sake and lots of it! We're celebratin' early!"

"Yeah!" shouted his friend. "We're going down in battling history when we capture Old Shifty!" 

The third member of the group cheered, arms up in victory.

"I... wouldn't advise that, sirs," said the bartender as she fetched their bottles. "Old Shifty isn't a pokemon you can just go out and catch."

"Aw, afraid Lavender Town will lose its mascot? Well sorry, but that shiny Ditto is gonna be ours, grandma!" said the bearded man, huge grin splitting his face. "It'll be everywhere! That the Battling Trio who captured Old Shifty of Lavender Town!" 

"Whatever you do, then," said the bartender as she served them, "stay away from Pokemon Tower while you look for Old Shifty."

The trio agreed right then and there that they would go directly to Pokemon Tower the next day.

"Jude, I don't think we're gonna find him today," said Sato as he shook another rock to make sure it wasn't a sleeping Ditto.

Jude stroked his beard and looked around the brown grass surrounding Pokemon Tower. "He can't hide from us forever, boys! And the sooner we catch him, the sooner we can decide who gets him!" 

Chen sat down hard. "We've been looking all day! The sun's setting!" 

"Well, maybe he's nocturnal then!" yelled Jude. "Keep looking!" 

The other two members of the trio muttered and searched harder than before.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Jude saw it. A little blue (for a shiny Ditto was a fine shade of blue, not purple) blob making its way towards the entrance of Pokemon Tower.

"After it, boys!" he yelled. He was already running, pokeballs in hand. Sato and Chen were running close behind.

Old Shifty slipped into the door of the tower, followed by the Battling Trio. The darkness of Pokemon Tower seemed to close in around them.

When the first Gastly appeared, Jude laughed and tried to catch it. "It's just Old Shifty trying to trick us!"

The poison attack that followed and the sight of Old Shifty making his way around the corner changed his mind about that pokemon. But not the next. Or the next after it.

By the end it seemed like every ghost in Pokemon Tower had come to greet, meet, and challenge the Battling Trio. And some, the Trio would swear later, were actual ghosts of the pokemon buried in the tower itself. 

After their latest beating, Sato and Chen were holding each other and shaking. Jude searched for an exit, any exit, to flee the tower.

Old Shifty always seemed to be right near. Every time they were about to give up they'd catch a glance of the little blue Ditto disappearing off behind another corner, another gravestone.

Eventually Sato, his hair noticeably whiter than it had been the previous afternoon, called things to a halt and dragged Jude and Chen past the pokemon graves towards the stairs. 

"Don't look at anything but the path!" said Sato. "That's how they've been tricking us!" 

Stair after stair until they finally reached the exit. And there, at the exit was an enormous Gengar. It smiled at them, mouth filled with sharp teeth.

"No…" said Chen.

Then they heard it. From the Gengar came a small cry of 'ditto!'

Jude rose up, filled with with the mighty energy of future success. "Boys, we've found Old Shifty! Hitmonchan! Go!" 

"Hitmontop! Go!" 

"Hitmonlee, go get him!"

And with that Gengar wiped the floor with the Battling Trio, for as it is well known, fighting pokemon can't hurt ghost pokemon.

Old Shifty smiled his blank ditto smile as he watched. He had simply been concealed behind the Gengar.

The Battling Trio woke up in the Lavender Town hospital.

"You've been poisoned rather badly," said the nurse as she checked their vitals.

"How…" said Jude.

"I hurt all over," said Sato.

"Weren't you told to stay away from Pokemon Tower?" said the nurse. "That's where Old Shifty likes to lure his victims to let the ghost pokemon beat them for him. Now, is all of your group here?"

"What do you mean, all here?" said Jude.

"Yeah, it was just me, Jude, and Chen," said Sato.

The nurse sighed and picked up a piece of card. 

"'My houndoom has no nose!'" She read in a monotone. "'How does he smell?' 'Like brimstone!'"

Sato and Jude only stared at her, but Chen began laughing hysterically until he slowly lost form and became… Old Shifty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Gold** : _It can transform into anything. When it sleeps, it changes into a stone to avoid being attacked._
> 
> **Silver** : _Its transformation ability is perfect. However, if it is made to laugh, it can't maintain its disguise._
> 
> BONUS Ditto story that didn't make it past this draft:
> 
> A cop car. Lights flashing. A man dragged by the police officers, hands in cuffs.
> 
> "The ditto!" he screams, "the ditto did it! The ditto did everything!" 
> 
> The cops ignore his cries.
> 
> Underneath a tree in the shadows, a ditto watches it all.
> 
> "Ditto," it says.


End file.
